Server 2003 SBS hardware configuration
The customer is pushing us to hurry and advise them on a server to buy, and then they want us to get it up and running and support it. They will be running a mid-range accounting system on it, and hope to someday add Exchange. This will be our first server, and theirs as well, so I need some guidance on a few issues since the vendors have not been much help so far. We currently have them set up with 10 XP systems that do file sharing on another XP system, but they plan to add at least five more next month, so they while they are growing they want to replace this XP file-sharing system with a server running Win 2003 SBS.
One requirement they have is that we buy them IBM, so I have no choice on that. With their budget, it looks like the IBM 8490J2U at about $1200 is in the right price range and has good specs. The info on that model is at this link, at the bottom of the page:
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=4611686018425146031&storeId=1&langId=-1&categoryId=4611686018425093842&dualCurrId=73&catalogId=-840
After much research on e-e, it looks like RAID-5 will be best for them. And, further e-e research indicates 3 WD Raptor SATA drives running on a hardware controller would offer good performance at a good price. Does that sound like a good choice?
I need a recommendation on a good controller. And, is it safe to assume that we can put this controller and these 3 Raptors in this IBM and expect it all to easily 'come together' into a RAID-5 setup and work right without a lot of hassles?
Since we are new to Win 2003 SBS, we were thinking about buying the retail package this time, MS part no. T72-01411, presumably getting all the docs with it. But for $200 more, they have a part that seems to offer 'software assurance' and support. Does anyone know if you get much of anything for your extra money--keeping in mind this is our first server install.
I do understand that I will need to buy more CALs since they will have 15 XP systems connected. But is there anything else that I'm obviously missing?
Any recommendations on the configuration will be appreciated!
One requirement they have is that we buy them IBM, so I have no choice on that. With their budget, it looks like the IBM 8490J2U at about $1200 is in the right price range and has good specs. The info on that model is at this link, at the bottom of the page:
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=4611686018425146031&storeId=1&langId=-1&categoryId=4611686018425093842&dualCurrId=73&catalogId=-840
After much research on e-e, it looks like RAID-5 will be best for them. And, further e-e research indicates 3 WD Raptor SATA drives running on a hardware controller would offer good performance at a good price. Does that sound like a good choice?
I need a recommendation on a good controller. And, is it safe to assume that we can put this controller and these 3 Raptors in this IBM and expect it all to easily 'come together' into a RAID-5 setup and work right without a lot of hassles?
Since we are new to Win 2003 SBS, we were thinking about buying the retail package this time, MS part no. T72-01411, presumably getting all the docs with it. But for $200 more, they have a part that seems to offer 'software assurance' and support. Does anyone know if you get much of anything for your extra money--keeping in mind this is our first server install.
I do understand that I will need to buy more CALs since they will have 15 XP systems connected. But is there anything else that I'm obviously missing?
Any recommendations on the configuration will be appreciated!
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Yes, the SATA will work - but I can't say that they're hot swappable because I don't know for sure. A failed drive, therefore, creates downtime if they aren't hot swap.
LSI, Mylex or Adaptec would work fine. Drives in SATA - take your pick. Drives in SCSI, go with Seagate.
Yes, hot-plug cages come in higher end servers and as options on lower end models. Having that means replacing failed drives without powering off the server - simply unplug the bad drive and replace it with an identical model and the RAID controller does the rest.
Yes, make sure the server has enough horsepower to run all your apps plus enough room to grow in the future.
I don't think it's worth the money for the support.
LSI, Mylex or Adaptec would work fine. Drives in SATA - take your pick. Drives in SCSI, go with Seagate.
Yes, hot-plug cages come in higher end servers and as options on lower end models. Having that means replacing failed drives without powering off the server - simply unplug the bad drive and replace it with an identical model and the RAID controller does the rest.
Yes, make sure the server has enough horsepower to run all your apps plus enough room to grow in the future.
I don't think it's worth the money for the support.
ASKER
If you have a favorite drive and controller, both brand and model, that info would be very helpful.
When you talk about the hot plug cage, is that something that is typically built into servers such as the IBM you pointed me to? I assume the 'hot' concept is designed to assure me more uptime in the event of a failure, right?
Then, when you list things that we need to 'be certain this server can run', are you simply talking about resources, such as fast enough processor and enough RAM--like the IBM you mentioned?
Finally, for this Win 2003 SBS novice, do you think it's worth it to buy the version of the operating system with the extra support and upgrades from MS...or is that likely to be worthless?